Tenacious Delahoya Leads Grant : Senior Throws 152 Pitches, Hits Grand Slam in Win Over Poly

If the East Valley League baseball game between Grant High and Poly on Friday was to be judged for beauty, it would probably receive straight zeroes.

Despite the dismal hitting and pitching of both teams and Poly’s shoddy fielding, Grant survived a seventh-inning rally and won, 10-9, at home to gain revenge for a 17-run loss to the Parrots earlier this week.

“It was an ugly win,” Grant Coach Tom Lucero said.

However, the missed ground balls and hit batters could not overshadow the drama of Javier Delahoya’s game-winning grand-slam in the fifth. With two out, Delahoya ripped relief pitcher Mario Gomez’s two-and-one pitch over the right-center-field fence to give the Lancers a 10-6 lead and cap a six-run inning after trailing, 6-4. The home run was Delahoya’s fourth of the year.

The game was far from over, though. The Parrots took advantage of two walks, an error and a hit batter to score three runs in the final inning.

Delahoya (3-0), who had allowed only one earned run in 14 innings this season, walked nine and hit two batters while throwing 152 pitches in a complete-game effort.

The senior right-hander was clearly tired by the seventh inning. With one out, Delahoya walked Robert Flores and Gomez was safe at first on an infield error.

Roy Lozano was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Robert Azala walked, allowing Flores to score and pull the Parrots to within 10-7. With two out, Shad Martinez drove in Gomez and Lozano with a single. The two-hour, 45-minute game ended when Adulfo Hernandez struck out with the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Delahoya, who last pitched 10 days ago, couldn’t remember the last time he had been so ineffective.

“It’s been a long time,” he said.

But his perseverance, plus a timely swing, swung the outcome in Grant’s favor.

“I got all of it,” Delahoya said of the grand slam. “It felt good.”